I don’t watch anything on live TV. I got a job, a wife, and a bunch of wily animals running around the barnyard—and most of those are my own offspring. I need TV to be on MY TIME. Enter the DVR—easily the greatest technological advancement since the assembly line. But even that still has its limits
Maybe a week ago, I set the DVR to record last night’s KU-Colorado basketball game. I saw that the NBC affiliate was pre-empting “The Biggest Loser” for the game, which is fine, because people in Northeast Kansas already know what fat people struggling to do stairs look like. Better to tease them with imagery of guys who can do TEDIOUS physical activities. You know, like “walking back on defense,” or “rising from a squat at the scorers’ table.” Throw in a few cheerleader shots, since the family pictures on their walls more closely resemble…well…still shots from “The Biggest Loser.”
So around 8:30 or so, I settled down to watch the game I THOUGHT I’d started recording at 7. Only I came to find out that the affiliate had button-hooked me—they PRE-EMPTED their pre-emption (without changing the Dish Network schedule, to boot) and switched the game over to one of their alternate channels not available on Dish.
Why? So they can show the STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS! You know, because there were only 87 other channels showing the exact same thing. Gotta make sure you have all your bases covered. There just might be someone in Harveyville or Council Grove who, if they twist the foil on the antennae just the right way, can pick up NBC and nothing else.
Of course, if they put out the effort to set up the step ladder and twist the foil, they probably did it so they could WATCH THE KU GAME!
I got a little lucky, though. Way up in the 400s somewhere, Dish was showing the game on one of their extra channels (the same ones they use for Royals games) intended for subscribers in Colorado. It was full of commercials for ski resorts and Avalanche season tickets, BUT at least I got to watch the final seven minutes of game time.
What I saw was fairly uneventful, and predictable. Big 12 refs making ludicrous calls to try to get the game closer at the end. Higgins and Burks driving unmolested to the tin. A litany of fouls in the last 90 seconds, and Kansas holding on for their 3,000th consecutive win in Boulder (something like that). Noteworthy that it was Colorado’s first home loss of the year, so we got that going for us.
I’M TOLD some pretty exciting things happened earlier in the game. Like Josh Selby blowing up for 15 first-half points before spraining his ankle. Brady Morningstar FINALLY breaking out of his shooting slump to hit four 3-pointers. Danny Manning wrapping his tie around his head and grinding with the dance team during a media timeout (OK, I made that part up). I have to take their word for it—I didn’t SEE any of it.
I had hoped to get on here today and talk about what went on during the game. In stead, all I got for ammo is a load of “blah, blah, blah” from the Commander-in-Chief. And if you have a TV at all, I know you saw that already.
Another ku fan bit¢hing about foul calls.
ReplyDeleteBig surprise!
http://missouri.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1057843
ReplyDeleteFrom last year. Of the top 7 big 12 schools, only ku shot more free throws on the road compared to their home opponents.
Gabe's stat was for conference games. Kansas was the only school to win 7 road games. How many of Kansas' extra free throws were from the trailing team (i.e.--the home team) fouling to stop the clock?
ReplyDeleteNot enough to make up that much of a discrepancy. Some...yes...but not that many.
ReplyDeleteSince Gabe's chart didn't include the last game of the year, I'll go ahead and add it in. KU outshot teams on the road in conference games 200-147 from the free throw line. I added up the "stop the clock" free throws for their 7 road wins, and it came to 46, which brings the total margin down to 8. So yes, Kansas shot an average of 1 ft per game more than their opponent when on the road. Considering how much harder KU was to guard than everyone else in the league, I hardly think of 1 extra ft a game as significant. I'm surprised the margin wasn't bigger.
ReplyDeleteIncluded in Gabe's list are other teams who also won games on the road. Are you willing to extend them the same courtesy of research? You see, it's not that ku's "reality" was 1 free throw per road game more than their home opponent...it's that everyone else's "reality", when subject to the same formula you used above, is probably 5-10 free throws per road game LESS than the home opponent.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a difference in opportunity for ku compared to other members included on that list.
I understand TruSon and the Anonymous poster's points, here. The point of the PowerMizzou article, though, was to point out the home court free throw advantage all of those schools enjoy. There are plenty of reasons why KU was the exception. It's probably too simple to just assume it's because the refs love them. They also have more motion, more athletes, more driving, etc., than most or all Big 12 teams. They're the hardest team in the league to defend, and thus are fouled more. Too little of a sample to draw conclusions.
ReplyDelete